


Runaway

by AnyaYanko



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (Very mild), Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Albus Dumbledore Lives, Father Figure, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnyaYanko/pseuds/AnyaYanko
Summary: ‘The rooms at the Hog’s Head were nothing like those at The Leaky Cauldron. Cold, draughty and with sticky patches on the bare floorboards that caught at the heels. Still, it was better than being at The Dursley’s.’***Harry tries to run away. Dumbledore comes after him.
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore & Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Runaway

The rooms at the Hog’s Head were nothing like those at The Leaky Cauldron. Cold, draughty and with sticky patches on the bare floorboards that caught at the heels. Still, it was better than being at The Dursley’s.

Harry settled Hedwig’s cage in the corner by the rattling window and filled her tray with treats. Then he opened up his trunk and began to unpack his books. All lined up, beside the bed, they added some much-need colour and hid the unpleasant stains on the wall. 

‘What do you think, Hedwig?’ Harry asked the snowy owl. 

Hedwig raised her head and hooted doubtfully. 

‘Not forever,’ Harry said quickly. ‘Just for a few days. Then we’ll find something more permanent.’

His broom, easily his most prized possession, took up the last remaining corner, and his trunk slid into place at the foot of the bed, which also improved the scene. The room, though still beige and bespeckled, like a mucky chicken egg, was starting to look homely. 

‘When we have somewhere of our own,’ Harry began, climbing onto the rickety bed, ‘we can get a nice red rug like in the Gryffindor Common Room and matching curtains.’ 

His mind was filling with the sort of colourful nicknacks he had seen littering the shops in Diagon Alley. Golden hourglasses and glittering ornaments. Mahogany writing desks. 

‘I’ll need a desk,’ he said, with sudden conviction. ‘A big one, for doing homework and writing letters.’ 

The thought of doing his homework properly in the middle of the day, instead of by torchlight in the middle of the night, was wonderful. 

‘It will be so good,’ He sighed, flopping back against the pillow which immediately deflated beneath his weight; one damp sack leaking feathers. 

There was a knock at the door. Harry sat up sharply, with a loud creaking of bedsprings. 

‘Um, hello?’ 

He couldn’t imagine who would be coming to visit him, as no one knew he was here. Perhaps it was the barman, who had begrudgingly given him the room, come to check he wasn’t causing any further damage. Or another guest who‘d lost their way.

The door clicked open and Albus Dumbledore stepped inside, his turquoise robes swirling about his feet. Harry could not have been more shocked if Voldemort himself had just turned up. 

‘P-Professor Dumbledore!’ Harry stuttered, scrambling to his feet. ‘What are you doing here?’ 

The old wizard surveyed Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles. 

‘Coming to see you. Naturally.’ 

‘But how did you know I was here?’

‘The barman,’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘You are not the first young wizard to try and run away from home.’ 

He took Harry’s vacated place upon the bed.

‘How do you like it?’ 

‘Er - ‘ Harry glanced around the room again. ‘I’ve only just arrived. 

‘I assume it’s not your final destination? The Hog’s Head is not really suitable for long-term occupation. Medium or short-term, either. To be quite frank, the prevailing advice is that you get out as quickly as you can.’ 

Harry wasn’t sure whether to smile or not. Dumbledore was prone to jokes that didn’t sound like jokes at all.

‘I’m not going back,’ he said firmly

Dumbledore continued to smile pleasantly. He patted the empty space beside him. 

‘Sit down and let’s talk it over.’ 

Harry scowled and returned the bed reluctantly. The mattress sunk beneath their combined weight to sit upon the floorboards. 

‘There’s nothing to talk about,’ said Harry. ‘I’m not going back. Not ever. No matter what you say. They don’t want me, anyway. They won’t take me back.’ 

‘I think they will,’ Dumbledore said calmly, ‘if I ask them to. I have a way of convincing people.’ 

Harry didn’t doubt it. 

‘Let’s start at the beginning,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Why did you leave you Aunt and Uncle’s house?’ 

Harry trained his eyes in the dusty floorboards. 

‘Argument,’ he muttered. 

‘Not the first, though, I imagine.’ 

‘No!’ Harry replied angrily. ‘And it wouldn’t be the last! They’ve treated me like dirt ever since I was dropped on their doorstep and I’m not putting up with it anymore.’ 

He still refused to meet Dumbledore’s eyes. Couldn’t bear to look into those patient blue irises. 

‘I’ve been locked up and half-starved and worked me to the bone. They’ve never done a single thing to support me like they did Dudley. Never bought me clothes or books or whatever.’

He felt ashamed to be saying all this, and yet it was all true. He had good cause to leave them. He had done the right thing. 

‘They even took away my school things at the end of each year. I’m better off on my own.’ 

‘You think so?’ Dumbledore asked mildly. 

‘Yes!’ Said Harry. ‘A couple of years ago, I stayed at The Leaky Cauldron - ’ 

‘Yes, I remember. I was surprised you didn’t go there this time. The accommodation is far superior.’ 

‘Didn’t want to be found,’ Harry said. ‘Anyway, I was fine living by myself there. So I’ll stay here for a couple of days then I’ll find a house or something 

‘You’ll have trouble finding someone willing to take on an underage tenant in either the magical or the muggle world.’ 

‘I can disguise myself,’ Harry suggested, ‘or use a confounding spell.’ He was thinking of the wizards at the Quidditch World Cup.

‘The Ministry might have a problem with that,’ Dumbledore said. ‘I’m forced to remind you, again, that you are underage and therefore not permitted to use magic outside school.’ 

‘Fine!’ Harry spat. ‘Then, I won’t use magic. I’ll just find somewhere where it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be anywhere great. I’ll camp out in the woods, if I have to.’ 

‘Do you think you’ll be safe there?’ 

Harry shrugged. ‘No one will know I’m there.’ 

Dumbledore edged a little closer and Harry, finally, looked up into his face. His expression was sad and thoughtful, as if he was about to impart a devastating piece of information. 

‘Harry, I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this, but it was I who entrusted you to the care of your Aunt and Uncle. Do you know why I did that?’ 

Harry shook his head. ‘Because ... they’re my only relatives?’ 

‘Yes, partly. I knew they were not on good terms with your parents but I assumed they would care for you, as relatives usually do. I am ... more than disappointed to learn how they neglected you. However, there is another reason I placed you with The Dursleys ... ’

Harry listened as Dumbledore explained how the magical protection his mother had given him extended to his family’s home. 

‘As long as you remain with your blood relatives, Lord Voldemort and his supporters will never be able to find you.’ 

Harry considered this glumly. 

‘But there are other ways to hide someone aren’t they?’ He said. ‘Like what my Mum and Dad did. A what’s it called - “secret keeper.” You could be my secret keeper and then no one would be able to find me!’

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. ‘I could,’ he said delicately, ‘but the Fidelius charm is not foolproof, as you must observe from your parent’s eventual discovery.’ 

‘Well, you’re not going to tell anyone, are you?’ Harry said. ‘Not like that sneak, Pettigrew.’

‘No, I am quite trustworthy,’ Dumbledore said absently, as if talking about someone else. ‘Indeed, I do not believe I would even divulge the secret under torture. I am so entirely committed to your safety, Harry.’ 

Harry was taken aback by such a bold declaration of devotion. 

‘Well, then,’ he said awkwardly, ‘why can’t we do that? I don’t care where I am, as long as it’s far away from my aunt and uncle.’ 

Dumbledore’s brow creased. 

‘But ... ’ He began slowly, as if the thought were only just occurring to him. ‘You would still need to leave the property from time to time, if only to shop for groceries and supplies. At that point, you would be vulnerable.’

Harry tried to think of an objection to this. As Dumbledore had pointed out, he would not be able to use magic to disguise himself. 

‘I could use the cloak,’ he pointed out. 

‘Oh yes, indeed, the cloak!’ Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully, ‘but ... you would not be able to make purchases while under the cloak.’

Harry supposed he would not. 

‘Practically, Harry, I think you need to wait until you are of age before living on your own. Though you may be willing to live in such accommodation that would be available to a boy your age, it would be easy for any of Voldemort’s supporters to track you down and attack you.’

Harry wanted to argue, but Dumbledore held up a hand. 

‘When you are of age, Harry, you will be able to find suitable accommodation. You will be able to get a job, take care of yourself. I’m not saying you‘re unable to do that now, you are the one of the most capable and independent young men I’ve ever seen, only that the world will not allow you to do so to the best of your abilities.’

Harry knitted his lips together, resentment churning in his stomach. 

‘I swear to you, Harry, my only concern is your safety. I want you to be happy too, though. You need not spend the entirety of your holidays with the Dursleys. You may go the Burrow, as you have many times before, for the majority of the time, and the protection will still be invoked. You merely need to return initially.’ 

Harry drooped. ‘Do I have to?’

He felt Dumbledore’s eyes on him, unfathomably sad. 

‘Yes, Harry.’ He seemed to hesitate, then put a hand to Harry’s arm. 

‘Please, trust me.’ 

Harry looked up at the headmaster and saw the expression he had been expecting. Blue eyes, bright as sapphire, shimmering like a lake. 

‘I do,’ he whispered. ‘I know you ... only want the best for me.’ 

The large hand patted at his arm. 

‘I’ll help you pack.’ 

Five minutes later, Harry was making his way back down the creaking stairs he had ascended earlier that evening, Hedwig’s cage under his arm, his trunk floating in the air behind him. 

The barman looked up as they entered, glaring. 

‘You’re taking him then?’

‘Yes,’ Dumbledore said.

‘Where to?’ 

‘His home.’ 

‘You mean his Aunt and Uncle’s house?’ The barman asked, flinging down his towel. ‘From what I’ve heard, that isn’t much of a home.’ 

Harry was surprised. The old barman hadn’t seemed that interested when Harry was pleading his case to him. True, he had given him a room once he’d heard the whole story, but Harry had assumed that was because he knew no one would be coming after him. 

‘It is where Harry belongs,’ Dumbledore said solemnly. ‘Where he is safest.’ 

‘Where he belongs,’ said the barman with a sneer. ‘And who decided that? You!’ 

He turned to Harry.

‘You don’t have to do what he tells you to, you know.’ 

Harry was astounded. 

‘What do you mean?’

‘He’s throwing you to the wolves, boy.‘

Harry bit his lip. ‘Dumbledore explained it. The Dursley’s are ... awful, but there’s a powerful protection spell over them. As long as I live with them, I’ll be safe from attack.’ 

The barman’s eyes narrowed to pinpricks, the wrinkles thick about his brow.

‘So you’re just going to let him lock you away.’ His eyes moved from Harry to Dumbledore. ‘A prisoner.’

‘I’m not a prisoner!’ Harry said desperately. ‘I’m choosing this!’ 

Although he had nowhere else to go, and he had been made a prisoner by his relatives. Locked in his room for days on end with meals delivered though a cat-flap. 

‘Don’t kid yourself, boy,’ the barman growled. ‘You’re just a cog in the machine. A sacrifice for “The Greater Good.” He doesn’t give a damn about you or anybody.’ 

‘What are you talking about?’ 

He had never heard anyone talk to Dumbledore like this. At least, anyone who wasn’t a death-eater. 

‘Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard alive,’ he said earnestly. ‘I trust him completely. Everyone does.’ 

The barman looked both furious and nausaus, like a man who’d just discovered he’d accidentally ingested flubberworm lavae.

‘You’re a fool,’ he told Harry. ‘A damned fool, just like the rest of them.‘ 

‘You are quite wrong, Aberforth,’ he said quietly. ‘I care for Harry a great deal.’ 

‘Why don’t you look after him then?’ The other wizard snarled. ‘No, don’t tell me. It’s not your job.’

‘You were the one who sent for me tonight,’ Dumbledore reminded him. ‘You could have kept quiet. Let Harry stay here.’ 

‘I’m not in any position to take care of him! You though, with all your power and influence, don’t tell me you can’t do anything.’ 

_Aberforth_. Harry had heard that name before. He took a closer look at the grizzled old barman. 

‘You’re Dumbledore’s brother!’ He exclaimed. ‘The one who likes to mess around with goats!’ 

Aberforth Dumbledore rounded on his brother. 

‘Is that all you’ve told him about me? You’ve got some nerve, Albus. The stories I could tell about you - !’

‘Quite,’ Albus said sharply, ‘however none of my misadventures have made it to the newspapers.’ 

‘Get out of my pub!’ Aberforth roared, picking up his dirty dishcloth and brandishing at the headmaster. ‘You’re banned!’

‘For at least a month,’ he added, as Dumbledore lead Harry out of the Hog’s Head. 

‘Don’t worry,’ Albus said in his perpetually cheery voice, ‘he bans me three times a year. Can’t live with me, can’t live without me.’ 

‘Oh, right.’ 

Harry looked down at the cobbles. ‘So ... how are we going to ... ‘

‘Have you ever traveled by side-along apparition before?’ Dumbledore asked, holding out an arm. ‘I can take you.’ 

‘Oh, yeah ... right.’

Harry didn’t move.

‘Do we have to go right now?’ 

Dumbledore’s fingers twitched, then he slowly lowered his hand. 

‘No, not immediately,’ he said quietly. ‘It is rather late.’ 

He looked down at Harry intently.

‘Where would you spend the night, if you had the choice?’

Wordlessly, Harry turned to look up at the castle towering above them. 

‘Ah,’ Dumbledore breathed. ‘Well ... that is easily, arranged. Have you your cloak on you?’ 

Harry nodded. 

‘Then please put it on and I shall escort you up to the school. No one need know you are there. I will contact your Aunt and Uncle in the morning.’ 

He waited until Harry had slipped on his invisibility cloak and then held out his hand again. This time, Harry took it, and they clasped tight. 

‘Come,’ Dumbledore said warmly, ‘I think a warm fire and a cup of cocoa is in order. And, if you are not too sleepy, we shall have time for one game of chess.’ 


End file.
